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Just got a MacBook Pro for work; what are your tips?

20 points by Pooge ↗ HN
Any tips welcome.

I turned on the Function keys, and the "3-finger double-tap for zoom" setting.

I'm really new and am eager to know how to make the most out of it. I'm still not used to the Ctrl, Option keys. And some special characters are not on the same place at all, which is disturbing because I sometimes minimize a window...

28 comments

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slater
"I sometimes minimize a window"

First thing to learn in macOS: Never do this. It's like the #1 thing Windows users new to Macs have to un-learn. Leave the app windows open and where they are, and learn to love the CMD-tilde (top left next to the "1" key on most keyboards) command to jump between an application's open windows.

Pooge
What I meant is that instead of pressing "@" I press the shortcut to minimize windows unwillingly. I use Alt+Tab or 3-finger swipe to switch open windows.
user_7832
Do you know any application or desktop environments that could emulate this MacOs (or a linux/unix) type behavior on windows? I'm curious to see what it means in practice (I've never used a mac.)
johng
I like to use full screen and 4 fingers to swipe between full screen processes. Homebrew is amazing. I hate "natural scroll".
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jbj
disable mouse acceleration and install unnatural scroll wheel to flip scrolling direction

https://github.com/ther0n/UnnaturalScrollWheels

dieortin
AFAIK you don’t need to install anything to reverse the scrolling direction. Although the natural one is much better when you use the trackpad.
jbj
you are correct. however this allows you to keep touch pad scrolling separate from mousewheel scrolling that will otherwise be tied together
unilynx
If you do anything in editors or edit command lines in the terminal, maximise the keyboard repeat rate and minimise the repeat delay.
speedgoose
FYI you can use many "emacs" shortcuts in shells like bash or zsh but also many CLI programs using the GNU readline lib.

In a text editor you should favour vim mode, obviously.

Then you will very rarely feel the need to press a key and wait.

syndicatedjelly
For some reason mac os lacks window snapping, so i bought a program called BetterSnapTool for a few bucks. it’s super customizable and let’s you snap windows however you prefer.
FinalDestiny
Try Cmd+h to quickly hide a window. Night Shift is also nice to have. Cmd+tab for switching between apps. Alt+backspace is really handy (it deletes the previous word.) In fact, the alt key has a lot of functions that are often overlooked.

Rectangle is awesome for macOS. It makes it easier to put windows in the corner of the screen, etc. I also like to install Dozer to keep the menu bar clean on macOS.

clay_the_ripper
Shortcuts I rely on every day:

Command-space: shortcut to search

Command-tab: Toggle between recent applications

Command-~: Toggle between windows in same application

Shift-Cmd-4: screenshot

Productivity things:

I uncheck natural scroll direction.

Trackpad set to fast.

Change screenshot destination to a folder, drag folder into dock, set display to date added, display as fan.

Do the same as above with downloads folder.

Disable zooming in the dock.

Enable dictation in accessibility and set the activation to double tap “control” on key board: dictate emails and other writing when you get bored of typing.

Install chrome and never look at safari again in my life.

Delete all the useless apple apps from the dock (maps etc).

nickjj
Disable mouse accel by running this from the terminal: defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.scaling -integer -1

There's a setting in iterm2[0] to disable the terminal from growing and shrinking if you adjust the font size. By default iterm2 will resize the terminal but it does it in the worst way possible by extending it past the viewable screen. If you pair or screenshare a lot this setting is critical to disable IMO.

https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy is really nice for managing multiple clipboards. It's about as good as Ditto for Windows.

[0]: https://iterm2.com/faq.html#:~:text=Q%3A%20How%20can%20I%20p....

xeonmc
Enable three-finger drag.
coffeebeqn
Command + arrow keys. Play around with them in your text editor of choice and you’ll never move your cursor another way
fellowniusmonk
I used the app rcmd and karabiner together to ensure I have deterministic app switching. I remap caps lock to right-command key using karabiner and then use rcmd for app switching.

Caps-lock + letter key means I can jump to any app instantly.

Other people map caps lock to escape or turn it into a "super key" but I don't like fiddling very much.

If you are doing web dev I find using chrome beta to always have your app front and center so it doesn't get lost in research tabs, since mac used "app switching" instead of "window switching" it's a nicer workflow.

So I have capslock+a mapped to terminal, +s mapped to chrome beta, +d mapped to editor, +c mapped to normal chrome, etc..

I've used a bunch of different approaches over the years like workspaces, multi monitor, global terminal hotkey, windows style "alt-tab" etc... I've found deterministic app switching to be way better.

deanmoriarty
I have always wanted to move to a "deterministic app switching" workflow, since on any given day I go through cmd+tab thousands of times. I rely on it so much that on every macbook I've ever used the cmd key becomes visibly discolored and beaten up after a couple years :)

Have you found a way to do it for free, without paying for rcmd?

fellowniusmonk
I just paid for it, it was $4 at the time. It and bettertouchtool (for tiptap window tiling, moving windows between monitors and 3 finger middle click) and sublime's text and merge are the primary dev/env gui tools I've paid for over the years.
speedgoose
Rectangle and AltTab are two must have open-source apps if you are used to those basic features.
efxhoy
The only customization app I use is Rectangle. Try to embrace the oddities of the system instead of trying to make it behave exactly like you’re used to. Make it yours but don’t bother trying to make it i3 or windows or whatever.

brew is probably the package manager you want.

For terminals I’ve used the built in, warp and iterm2. The built in works best for me.

asdf works great if you need multiple versions of programming languages.

I use and paid for Sublime Text and Merge. One thing about MacOS is it broke my idea to only use Free (as in beer) software. Paying for software that feels right becomes less strange when the rest of the system has the feeling that you paid more for the feeling of it.

I gave up on safari and switched to chrome, because I also use windows and the sync is convenient. If mac is now your only system I suggest giving Safari a fair chance.

Don’t feel tethered to your power cord or screen, M cpu macbooks have great battery life, use it.

TheLoafOfBread
Install Parallels with Windows so it is actually usable.
torunar
I’m going to be torched by Apple enthusiasts, but I gotta say it: if you have the older model with Intel CPU, use BootCamp and install Windows 10 on it. I did it half a year ago and it changed my life drastically: now I finally have an OS that is not breaking in half after yet another upgrade because “muh we decided you don’t need 32 bit apps” or “muh we decided you don’t need kernel extensions”. And the performance is much snappier in general, typing was and is sluggish in macOS.
mouse_8b
Get a better text editor and file browser, and probably terminal.

I use Sublime as my text editor, but there are other options.

I use PathFinder for a dual-pane file explorer.

I use iTerm2 for my terminal.

Otherwise, I don't recommend customizing too much out of the gate. If you are continuously hitting a pain point, then it could be worth it, but you'll learn the Mac way soon enough.

avinassh
enable Tap to Click, your RSI will thank you.